Cuthbert is ready to jig past Spain
ERIN CUTHBERT can dance around a defence but don’t ever ask her to show off moves in ballet or tap.
Scotland’s emerging star of the European Championships won’t tiptoe around the issue of nicknames either – she hates being called Little Miss Messi.
The 19-year-old Chelsea playmaker insists her team can cause an upset by dumping Spain by two goals in Deventer tomorrow night to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Euros.
It would go down as the greatest result in the history of the Scottish women’s game but Cuthbert has a knack with a ball at her feet that makes even the cynical believe.
Anna Signeul is set to unleash the former Rangers and Glasgow City starlet on the Spaniards from the start after introducing her from the bench in the first two Group D games, which ended in defeats to England and Portugal.
Cuthbert has been a breath of fresh air for the women’s squad in Holland, which has been reeling from a string of injuries to top players including Kim Little, Jen Beattie and Jane Ross.
Proud dad Steve and mum Jacqueline, from Irvine, long ago realised the folly of trying to introduce their daughter to activities they thought most fitting for a five-year-old girl.
Cuthbert said: “My sister Emma did dancing and gymnastics and mum and dad are incredibly proud of us both.
“However, I preferred to roll about in the mud than go to dance classes. They took me for a few weeks but it wasn’t for me.
“We had a patch of grass in front of our house and I spent every night out there playing football with boys.
“I joined Girdle Toll Boys Club at the age of four and stayed until 11. Then I moved to Crosshouse Boys Club in Kilmarnock until I was 13 and then on to Rangers. I stayed in boys’ football as long as I could and felt the benefits physically.
“The irony is Lionel Messi is one of my favourite players, along with Andres Iniesta, but I hate being called Little Miss Messi. I’m my own player. Just call me Little Erin.”
Cuthbert is so unassuming she didn’t realise her equaliser in the 2-1 defeat against the Portuguese was a moment of history as the first goal scored by a Scottish woman at a major tournament. It was also the first time a Scottish senior national team had scored at an elite level since Craig Burley netted for Craig Brown’s squad in the 1-1 draw with Norway at the World Cup in France in June 1998, a month before Cuthbert was even born.
She added: “It has been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve heard of Craig Burley. That’s superb. People used to say, ‘She only plays football, she’ll never make a job out of it.’ Now it’s, ‘Well done. You’re doing really well.’
“It seems as if I’m also flying the flag for Irvine.”
Cuthbert is confident she and her team-mates can write headlines never before seen by defeating Spain at least 2-0, which would be enough to progress so long as England defeat Portugal.
She added: “We can do it. We have confidence.”
Lionel Messi is one of my favourite players but I hate being called Little Miss Messi ERIN CUTHBERT